Campus brief Students spend day off aiding elderly
Several AU students and faculty spent Martin Luther King Jr. Day helping senior citizens in the D.C. area.
Half of the 41 volunteers helped paint at Emmaus Center for the Aging while the rest spent time cleaning and doing other chores in the seniors' individual homes, according to Tasha Daniels, the operations and programs coordinator in the Office of Campus Life.
"It went really well," said Daniels, who coordinated the Community Service Center event. "We even have some students who decided to return to volunteer with Emmaus."
In addition to helping the senior citizens, volunteers had the opportunity to bond with them on a deeper level, Daniels said.
"Some volunteers got to talk with the seniors and spend time with them in the afternoon," Daniels said.
The next community service event will be Dr. Seuss Day on March 1, when students will have the opportunity to go to schools and read to young children, according to the University Service Center Web site.
-RACHEL TRAINER
Metro brief Va. bill to ban ornamental truck genitalia
A Virginia legislator has introduced a bill that would ban the use of plastic testicles as automobile accessories, the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star reported Jan. 16.
Del. Lionel Spruill, D-Chesapeake, got the idea after a Virginia man complained to him that his 6-year-old granddaughter had seen a pair and asked what they were, according to the Free Lance-Star.
"I said, 'Sir, I'm going to be a laughingstock, but I'm going to do it,'" Spruill said.
The hard plastic accessories, known as "Truck Nutz," come in a variety of colors and sizes. Most sell online for $15, although a chrome version is available for $39.99, according to the company's Web site.
The ornaments are typically displayed under the rear bumpers of trucks, although smaller models are available for motorcycles. The legislation would make it a class four misdemeanor to display the decorative genitalia and would carry a fine of $250, according to the Free Lance-Star.
-CHRIS COTTRELL
National brief Prosecutor finds drugs in courthouse parking lot
A Liberty, Mo., prosecutor offered last Thursday to return the contents of a plastic baggie found in his office parking lot to its rightful owner, but he advised the culprit to bring a lawyer, The Kansas City Star reported.
Daniel White, a prosecutor in Clay County, said an employee found a bag containing a white substance outside his office. Once tested, it turned out to be $300 worth of crystal methamphetamine, according to The Star.
"I thought it was hilarious," White said to The Star. "Not only do you lose it, but you lose it in the parking lot of the prosecutor's office."
White has invited whoever lost the bag to stop by his office and retrieve it, but to expect to be arrested.
"If you're in Liberty and lost your meth, don't do anything dumb," White said to The Star. "Or at least don't do anything dumber than lose your dope in the courthouse parking lot."
-C.C.
International brief Churchgoers defined in sexual message
A church in Brampton, Ontario, has drawn flak for a controversial message displayed on its outdoor sign, the Brampton Guardian reported Thursday.
Churchgoers complained last week that the sign at the Heart Lake United Church, which read, "Lying in bed shouting 'Oh God' does not constitute going to church," could be seen as offensive.
"They usually have nice, thoughtful sayings on the sign, and I often read them and think, 'That's so true,'" one woman told the Guardian.
She maintained that the sign was funny and would be appropriate at an adult party, but did not want her children to be subjected to it.
Church officials said they did not know the sign would offend anyone and would remove it immediately, according to the Guardian.
-C.C.
